Jacqueline logged into the applicant tracking system and pulledthe postings for the two promotions she said she’d put in. Lena’s name didn’tappear on either list. She had to dig a little further to find the issue.
In both cases, preference was given to internal applicants whoapplied by a specified purge date. If they had a shortage of qualified existingemployees, only then would they consider external applicants. In one case, Lenahad mistakenly applied as an external applicant, and because they had a numberof good internal employees to consider, they didn’t add any of the externalapplications. In the second, she’d applied internally, but after the expirationdate, so her paperwork wasn’t processed. Not only had she not been purposelydiscriminated against, but she hadn’t actually been in contention for eitherjob through her own fault.
Her next interview with Lena didn’t go smoothly. Lena insistedshe’d received no direction from her superiors about how to put in for thejobs, probably because she was a woman and they didn’t want her to get thepromotion. Jacqueline gave her the printouts of the job postings that specifiedwhich systems to apply through. None of the other applicants had had troublefollowing the directions.
After determining Lena’s claim was unfounded, Jacqueline justneeded to complete and submit her final report. She sat back in her chair,opened the laptop in front of her, and began summarizing the course of herinvestigation over the past two days.
She couldn’t wait to finish and head home, though what she facedthere wouldn’t be much easier. True to her word, Casey had continued to checkon her father for the past two days. She hadn’t answered any of Jacqueline’scalls since their argument last week. But, since Monday, after Jacqueline hadhung up without leaving a voice mail, she’d received a text from Casey with anupdate on her father. If he knew they’d argued, he hadn’t brought it up in anyof her phone conversations with him. The one time she’d heard Casey in thebackground and asked to speak to her, he’d haltingly told her that Casey hadjust stepped out of the room, then changed the subject. She was too proud tobeg him to convince her to get on the phone, so she’d let it go.
*
“Do you think you’ll spend more than a few days at home any timesoon?” Kendra asked as she slid into the coffee shop booth across fromJacqueline.
“I sure as hell hope so. I’m running on fumes here.” Jacquelinetook a sip of her coffee. “I got back from Knoxville a couple of hours ago andhave to go into the office this afternoon. But tomorrow, I’m taking a day towork from home. Dad has a follow-up with his doctor.”
“It’s Friday. Why not?”
“Exactly.”
“Here. You look skinny. I got you a muffin.” Kendra slid a platecovered with a huge chocolate-chip muffin across the table.
“I’m good. Thanks.”
“Fine. I got it for me.” She pulled it halfway back to her. “Butas my maid of honor, you’re obligated to eat half my calories so I’ll still fitin my dress.”
“I’m your maid of honor?” Jacqueline broke a piece off the top.“Oh, it’s still warm.”
“Of course you are. You’re the only woman I’ve ever lived withthat I didn’t want to kill on a regular basis.”
“You did have some nightmare roommates after me.”
“Yes, but even after you dumped me to room with Casey junior yearand left me with an endless string of crazies, here I am still asking you tostand up with me at my wedding.”
“Because you’re the better person.” Jacqueline raised her coffeein a mock salute.
“Speaking of Casey.”
“We weren’t.”
“She called me.”
Jacqueline froze with her cup halfway to her mouth. “I assumedyou two still spoke.” She paused and then added, “What did she say?”
“Nothing about you. Not even after I dropped your name inconversation. She only actively avoids talking about you when she’s mad. Whathappened?”
“You enjoy this, don’t you? Being in the middle, calling yourselfSwitzerland all the time. But I think you get a kick out of listening to usboth and knowing even more about what’s going on than either of us does.”
“Fine. Don’t tell me what happened. Have you stopped to considerwhy, after eight years, there’s still something for me to be in the middle of?You’re lesbians. Aren’t you supposed to be best friends after, like, a year anda half?”
“You’re hilarious.” Jacqueline tore off another piece of muffinand shoved it in her mouth.
“Are you two going to be able to handle being involved in mywedding together?”
“Of course. I’ve actually seen more of her in the past month thanI have in years. We’ll be fine.” She wasn’t certain where they stood, but thewedding was three months away. If all else failed, she’d stick to the otherside of the room. “Oh, I’m throwing you a shower. I think it’s one of myofficial duties.”
“Do people even do that anymore?”
“I don’t know. But we will.”
“I’m not some twenty-something buying my first house with my newhusband. Aren’t showers only for the first marriage?”
“Okay. Call it an engagement party.”
“You know what I’d really like?”
“What’s that?”
“Remember the poker parties we used to have?”
Jacqueline laughed. “Sure. I met Casey at one of them. I haven’tplayed poker in years.”
“Brush up on your Texas Hold ’Em, my friend. I expect you to helpme clean out the guests like we used to.”
*
“Teddy, I brought lunch,” Casey called as she opened his frontdoor. She stopped quickly when she entered the living room. Jacqueline sat onthe couch with her open laptop resting on her thighs. Fatigue dulledJacqueline’s eyes, and her hair was messed up like she’d had her hands in itall morning. Casey couldn’t back out of the room now, and she couldn’t give into her sudden urge to go to her, so instead she offered a somewhat stiltedgreeting. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“I took Dad to the doctor this morning. I’m working from
